Concert at Paramount Theatre to benefit ARMC

Friday

Feb 8, 2013 at 12:01 AMFeb 8, 2013 at 10:22 PM

By Steve Huffman Times-News shuffman@thetimesnews.com

Lonnie Dodson doesn’t like members of the staff at Alamance Regional Medical Center. “Love” is a better description, he said, for his doctors and nurses and everyone in between. “I’m so thankful for all they’ve done for me, man,” Dodson said. “That’s why I’ve decided to give back.” Dodson, 52, is keyboardist for Ken Knox & Company, the group formerly known as Chairmen of the Board. Ken Knox & Company will play at 8 p.m. Feb. 15 as part of the 15th anniversary of the reopening of the restored Paramount Theatre in downtown Burlington. Fifty percent of the proceeds from the concert will benefit cancer patients through the Patricia Bynum Fund, part of the Alamance Regional Medical Center Charitable Foundation. Tickets are still available. They’re $20 in advance or $22 the day of the show and can be purchased at the Paramount Theatre’s box office. Hospital administrators say the Patricia Bynum Fund is intended to assist cancer patients who otherwise may not be able to afford their treatments. Members of Ken Knox & Company opted to give back to the hospital at the request of Dodson, a Burlington resident. This past fall, he was diagnosed with throat cancer. Dodson’s problems started with a sore mouth that eventually led to problems breathing and a trip to the emergency room at ARMC. He said doctors told him a tumor was blocking his windpipe. Dodson has since undergone a biopsy and his cancer is being treated with both chemotherapy and radiation. Dodson and his doctors said there’s a good chance he’ll make a complete recovery, but in the meantime he’s going through a lot. For the time being, he’s forced to speak through a tracheostomy tube. The radiation and chemotherapy is taking a lot out of him. “Chemo makes the tumor smaller, then the radiation destroys the tumor,” is how Dodson explains what he’s dealing with. Dr. Glenn Chrystal, one of Dodson’s doctors at ARMC, said that’s a fairly accurate description. He said when Dodson’s cancer was diagnosed, it was already rather advanced. “The good thing is, this type cancer doesn’t spread like some other types,” Chrystal said. “It’s a very curable cancer. There’s an 80 percent chance he won’t need major surgery.” Should Dodson need surgery, it would likely necessitate the removal of his vocal cords — an option that would mean he’d lose his voice box. Chrystal said such surgery is devastating enough for anyone, and especially devastating for a professional musician like Dodson who relies heavily on his voice. “From a professional standpoint, this is a great outcome,” Chrystal said. “But Lonnie knows that losing his voice box may still be in the game plan.” In the meantime, Chrystal said he and other doctors — Dr. Sandeep Pandit and Dr. Chapman McQueen were two that Dodson also asked be mentioned — remain optimistic. “We’ve become very good friends,” Chrystal said of his relationship with Dodson. “He hugs me every time he comes in. He’s a good guy.” Dodson said he’s been playing keyboards most of his life, but said he didn’t respond the first few times General Johnson, founder of the Chairmen of the Board, asked him to join the band. “I turned him down four or five times,” Dodson said “Then I did my research.” What he found was that the Chairmen of the Board had some major hits — “Give Me Just a Little More Time” and “You’ve Got Me (Dangling on a String)” included. Dodson said he played with the Chairmen of the Board for 18 months before Johnson died of lung cancer in 2010. Dodson said Ken Knox and Company has “passed the music along.” Knox was a member of the Chairmen of the Board from 1978 until Johnson’s death. “People of the Carolinas loved the music,” Dodson said. “Ken Knox was General’s right-hand man.” Knox said the first concert that Dodson returned for following his hospital stays was at the inauguration of Gov. Pat McCrory. “His family, his sister, all of them were cheering for us,” Knox said. “They were all yelling, ‘Pat loves y’all! Pat loves y’all!’ “ Knox said one of the strengths of the band is they appeal to such a broad range of age groups. “We’re fortunate to have friends from 8 to 80,” he said. Of Dodson’s return to the group: “Lonnie had a ball,” Knox said. “It did something for him to be able to perform with us.” Dodson said doctors told him throat cancer is usually linked to the use of tobacco and he admitted to years of smoking “little cigars.” He said he’s told young people to learn by the error of his ways and said of his own tobacco use: “That’s done.” Dodson said he approached Dave Wright, director of the Paramount Theatre, about the possibility of staging a concert with the money in some way benefitting ARMC. “Dave said he’d help me put this together for the community,” Dodson said. “I was very grateful for what Dave did. I hope everyone comes out to see us.”